What are points and miles worth? April 2020 monthly valuations

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One of the questions I’m asked most often is “How much is a point or mile worth?” The answer varies from person to person, and depends on how well you can maximize a particular loyalty currency. Still, some rewards are clearly worth more than others — my goal is to give you a sense of how they stack up.

These valuations are based on a combination of what I would pay to buy points if given the opportunity and the overall value I could get from redeeming them, factoring in variables like award availability, fees and change/cancellation policies. I encourage you to share your thoughts where you think I’m off base (and on point, no pun intended), and I’ll take feedback from TPG readers into consideration when I update the valuations each month.

To give you some context, I’ve included my valuations from one year ago and from last month. However, it’s worth noting that this month, we are once again leaving all individual valuations alone given the ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. This is having a monumental impact on the overall travel industry, including airline and hotel loyalty programs. It’s too soon to analyze the long-term impact the outbreak will have on the value of the various currencies below, but as business rebounds, we’ll be back to consider just how it has affected the world of points and miles.

Key points and miles news

As noted above, the biggest news of the past couple of months has been the coronavirus outbreak, and airlines and hotels continue to make monumental adjustments to their operations. The last few weeks have seen a slew of major announcements from the major loyalty programs, including the following programs that have officially extended elite status:

Even though now is not the time to be traveling, you may be thinking about your next trip, so adding a new rewards credit card to your wallet and taking home a large sign-up bonus could be an important step to take.

The information for the Ink Business Preferred and Citi Premier has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Of course, these updates and changes in light of the coronavirus outbreak won’t be the last by any stretch, so if you haven’t already, be sure to sign-up for our daily newsletter. You can also bookmark our coronavirus hub page for up-to-date information on the pandemic and its impact on the travel industry.

The future: New methodology

Once the coronavirus outbreak is contained, our team will be diving into the data in greater depth for all airline and hotel programs. I wouldn’t be surprised to see future adjustments to our value for a number of popular currencies, so stay tuned for that.

Illustration by The Points Guy

This is The Points Guy’s permanent page for the most up-to-date valuations, so you can bookmark it and check back each month for updates. Keep in mind you may see some reader comments referring to older valuations below.

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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

I would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not sell your email. See PRIVACY POLICY.

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Welcome to The Points Guy!

The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.